What if
by AnEvilRegalFostersFan
Summary: A series of one-shots - kind of - based on the premise of "What if..." Rated T for now. If an M rating is required, the chapter will be marked.
1. Chapter 1

**The Idea**: A series of one-shots (ish) that fall under the premise of "What if..." I have a few ideas, but if you like this, and you'd like me to write one, leave it in a PM or review, and I'll see what I can come up with.

**CMA Legal Stuff**: I don't own The Fosters. I only have fun with their lives.

* * *

The Honeymoon - Part 1

What if Callie had called Lena instead of calling the prison?

~*THE FOSTERS*~

They should have postponed the wedding.

That was the only thought going through Lena Adams Foster's head as she lay in the bed, staring at the stucco ceiling of the road-side motel.

They should have postponed the wedding and helped Callie deal with her feelings about the trial and its outcome. Hell, they should have dealt with their _own_ feelings about the trial and its outcome.

They should have convinced her that she needed the extra help – found her another therapist (why _hadn't_ Bill gotten back to them on that, by the way?).

No, she should have listened to Stef. _That'_s what she was really thinking. She should have listened to Stef and called the local police precinct to simply _watch_ the building – not go in and detain her, but watch to be sure she didn't leave.

She blinked her eyes, allowing two single tears to fall. Her heart hurt, and there was no comfort she could receive that would make this pain go away, except maybe seeing Callie walk back through the door and into their arms (or let's be realistic, she'd probably walk back through the door and stand there; Callie really isn't one for physical contact).

She silently wished that she'd been able to get through to the girl. She wished they'd had a better relationship with each other. Truth be told, Lena would die for the girl if it meant saving her from whatever pain she was experiencing to cause her to run away; she loved her like a mother loves a daughter, but Callie had never really been responsive to their attempts at being her mom.

No, she wasn't responsive to Lena's attempts at being her mom. Stef, on the other hand, seemed to have possibly gotten through some of the teen's tough exterior.

She couldn't lie in the bed any longer, so she stood up carefully, trying not to wake her wife (not that she thought Stef was actually sleeping), and made her way out onto the walkway, taking her phone off the charger on her way outside. She sat in the chair in front of the window, staring at the trucks parked in the parking lot. That morning, Callie'd gotten into one without any regard for her own safety (it was the only viable explanation as to how she ended up leaving without anyone seeing her), and all Lena wanted to do was chase every one of them that pulled out, searching for her girl.

In her mind, she went over every detail of the past few days, looking for some sign that this was going to happen.

What had she missed? She was the one with the Master's in child psychology; she was around teenagers from all walks of life all day, five days a week; she'd worked with teenagers when she was in college, and yet, she missed something extremely important, and now they were minus a daughter. How had this girl gone from, "Yes, adopt us!" to _gone_ in less than twenty-four hours? What happened?

She unlocked her phone and stared at the screen, willing it to light up with a call. However, each minute that passed and the screen did not move was another tear that fell down her cheek.

Then, it did. A text message…

_Marco._

Lena smiled slightly, figuring her wife had awakened and noticed the empty side of the bed.

_Polo, _Lena texted back.

_Where are you?_

_Outside._

_Are you okay?_

_Oh, sure. I'm great! Well, aside from it being my fault that our daughter is missing, that is…_erase.

"It's not your fault, Lena."

Lena jumped at her wife's voice. She turned and saw Stef standing in the doorway close enough to see what she'd typed and then erased.

Stef walked over to Lena and knelt down in front of her. "It's not your fault. We could have done a million things differently, and we still may have ended up here, or we could have done a million things differently, and ended up in a much worse place than where we are now. There was something off at the wedding – I could see it in her eyes when we were dancing – and I did nothing about that. My profession is completely based off of being able to read people, and yet I missed something, too." She took Lena's hands into her own, kissing each hand before reaching up and wiping tears off her wife's face. "We can play the what-if-blame-game all we want, Love, but it's not going to bring her back any faster. I think this is one time we are just going to have to have a little faith that someone is going to find her, and she'll come home, and when that happens, we will take her and hold her, kiss her, hug her, fix any injuries she's obtained, and then we'll ground her until she's eighty."

Lena let out a tearful laugh. "That's _if_ she comes home, Stef. CPS may not even let her come home."

Stef visibly swallowed roughly. "Maybe not, but I will fight like hell to bring her home. We may not be able to stop the inevitable, but we can try, and I'm not going to risk her thinking she had no one in her corner fighting for her." She stood and sat in the other chair, pulling it close to her wife. "We'll find her, Lena."

The brunette nodded. "That's not what I'm afraid of," she said as she unlocked her phone to once again silently demand it ring. "It's the condition in which we find her that I'm afraid of."

"I know, Love," Stef reached out and grasped her wife's arm, offering what support she could, "me, too."

~*THE FOSTERS*~

Callie stood outside of the convenience store, watching as the scantily clad girl walked away from her.

"Um," she called tentatively. The other girl turned around. "You wouldn't by any chance have a phone I could use for a minute, would you?"

The girl smirked a bit and walked back toward Callie, pulling a phone out and handing it to her.

"Calling home?" she asked as she continued to smirk.

Callie looked the girl in the eyes. "Something like that." She held the phone between her hands for a minute and called up the keypad. It took her a while, but she dialed a number. She stood for another few moments, contemplating what could possibly happen next.

_Send._

She held the phone up to her ear and waited. It barely got through the second ring when a tentative voice picked up.

"Hello?"

Callie's voice caught in her throat and she had to choke back a sob.

"Callie?" The woman's voice had become more alert. "Callie, is that you?" Another pause filled the void between them. "Sweetheart, answer me, please…" This woman was begging, she could tell.

What exactly did she say? _Mommy, I'm sorry! Please come and get me!_?

What do you say to a woman who took you in and housed you and clothed you for nine weeks – a woman who offered to adopt you – only for you to throw it all back into her face and take off?

"Callie, honey," the woman's voice came through the phone again, this time, desperate and lined with tears, "if it's you, please say something – _anything!_"

She composed herself, taking a breath before trying to speak. _I can do this! 1…2…3…_

"Yeah," she started before having to calm her tears again. She cleared the frog from her throat. "It's me."

"Thank goodness!" She heard the sigh of relief on the other side of the phone. "Stef, it's Callie!"

Suddenly, there was a burst of sound. (Lena must have put her on speaker phone.)

"Callie," came Stef's voice, sounding just as desperate as her wife's. "Callie, Baby, are you all right?"

Boy, was that a loaded question if she ever heard one.

"Callie, I need you to answer me. Are you all right?" This was Stef again – this time, more demanding.

She tried to collect herself, but failed miserably when she answered, "No."

"Are you hurt?" Stef demanded.

"Um…"

"Physically, Callie, are you hurt? The rest will come later. Do you need medical attention?"

"No. No, I'm okay…ish."

"'Ish'? Callie, 'ish' is not 'okay'. What happened? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, really. I ache from all the walking, and I twisted my ankle earlier today. It hurts a little…"

"Jeez."

"Okay, honey, where are you?" This one was Lena. "Stef and I are coming to get you."

Callie looked around, trying to find an address. Finding none, she said softly, "Hang on a second." She journeyed into the small convenience store and asked the clerk for the address. After relaying the address to Lena and Stef, they assured her they were on their way and to wait right there.

"Don't you dare move!" was Stef's last command before Callie heard the door of the SUV close and the engine starting up.

"I won't," Callie assured the two women. "Stef? Lena?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

There was a momentary pause before Stef's voice came back over the phone, "We know, Sweets. You just stay there and wait, and we'll talk about it when we get there."

Callie had to swallow back another lump in her throat as tears began falling again. "'Kay."

"And Callie," Lena's voice came again.

"Yeah?" she barely whispered.

"We love you."

Callie couldn't speak. They couldn't. That wasn't how this worked. She messed up; she ran away; she threw them away; she rejected them. How could they still…? She couldn't even bring herself to finish the thought.

"Callie?" Lena's voice came over the phone again. "Callie, honey, are you still there?"

_End._

~*THE FOSTERS*~

It took about an hour before Stef and Lena pulled up in front of the small convenience store where Stef's GPS brought them. As they got out of the car, Stef tried to keep her emotions in check while she looked around, first at the girls on the corner and then inside the store. She caught the look of unease on her wife's face and ushered her inside, telling her to check inside while she checked with the girls ("…and wait inside for me, okay, Love?")

Lena did as she was told while Stef made her way over to the barely-dressed females on the corner. Whipping out her phone, she called up a picture she'd taken surreptitiously of Callie.

"Good evening, Ladies," Stef began as she walked over to the group and held up her phone. She was in full officer-mode now. "By any chance have any of you seen this girl?"

One of the girls smirked at her, after looking at the picture.

"What's it to you?" the girl asked as she shifted her weight and crossed her arms.

Stef only raised her eyebrows at this. "You've seen her?"

There was a tense silence between the woman and the girl – a silence where Stef had a moment to really look at the girl in front of her. She couldn't have been older than fifteen, working the corner like it was second nature for her. She had the rough exterior that these girls generally take years to develop.

"Trix," came another voice, "cut her some slack." Another scantily clad girl walked to the front of the group and looked Stef in the eye. "What's your name?"

Stef shifted her weight slightly, mimicking the previous girl's actions. "What's it to you?"

This one didn't flinch. "We saw a girl here a little while ago. She used my cell phone to call her moms. After she hung up, she told us the names of the two moms. If your name matches either of the names, I'll tell you where she is. If it doesn't…"

"If it doesn't, you could potentially be obstructing a police investigation."

"Or I could be protecting her…"

Stef was on the defensive, "From what?"

"Name?"

The older woman took a breath before answering, "Officer Stefanie Adams Foster."

After the majority of the girls gasped and a few, "Oh, shit! She's a cop!" phrases flew around, the young girl in front of her smiled and led the blonde away from the other girls.

"That was gutsy."

"Is that one of the names she gave you?"

"If it wasn't, I wouldn't still be talking to you." The girl looked around. "Where's your, um, wife?"

"Where's my daughter?"

"She's safe."

Stef was becoming worried. What if Callie had taken off again, or joined up with these girls?

"That wasn't my question. My question was…"

"I know; I know…where's your daughter?" She turned toward a diner about a block away. "She's there – at Harbor Inn Diner. She was hungry, so I gave her a twenty and told her to go and get something to eat. If you look down the street, you'll see her sitting in the window."

"You sent her alone?"

The young girl shook her head. "She's there with two other girls." Seeing the look on Stef's face change from determined to concern about that fact, this girl continued, "Not all of us are in this profession because we have a choice. She has the opportunity to go home – an opportunity that at least four of us will never get. The four of us don't wish this life on anyone, and as soon as we have the means to get out, we are. She has a real chance to go home to two moms who love her. We're not about to stop that."

Stef turned back to the girl and looked into her eyes, and what she saw there was real pain. This girl had been dragged into this life and desperately wanted to get away from it.

"Thank you," she said as she smiled and reached into her back pocket. She pulled out her wallet, took out some cash, and handed it to the girl.

"I can't take that," the girl said, refusing to touch the cash. "I can't take money for information."

"No, that would be unethical on my part," Stef said matter-of-factly. "However, I am not giving this to you because you told me where to find my child. I'm paying you back for what you gave her – with some interest added on." When the girl finally took it, she smiled. "Use it wisely."

Stef thanked the girl one more time and walked back toward the convenience store where she saw her wife pacing the floor.

"Stef," Lena started, tears lining her voice, "Callie's not here!"

Stef stopped in front of her wife and simply said, "I know."

"What are we…wait," Lena processed what Stef just said. "You know? Do the girls know where she is?"

"Yep," Stef answered as she took her wife into her arms, "and we're going to go and get her right now."

"Where is she?"

Stef smiled. "She's at the diner just down the street. One of the girls gave her money to get something to eat and sent her there." She saw the look of pure joy on her wife's face and couldn't help but smile back, "Let's go get our baby."

~*THE FOSTERS*~

She saw Stef's green shirt and Lena's red sweater and watched the two girls that came with her leave before she started feeling the pressure of what she'd done by calling them.

There was no one else in the diner when the two women walked in, looking around for their wayward child. Well, no one, that is, except an African American woman standing at the counter watching to see where they would sit.

"We'll be closin' in a few minutes, ladies," the woman at the counter opened with. "Can I get you anything to go?"

Stef was the one who stood still, scanning the other booths in the restaurant.

"We're looking for someone," Lena said as she approached the woman, attempting to keep her voice steady. "She comes up to my shoulder, brown hair, brown eyes, thin…"

"She's our daughter," Stef chimed in as she continued looking around the room.

"You two are the young one's parents?"

"We are," Lena answered. "We were told she was here."

"She is," the woman answered her. "She's sitting at the back booth there." The woman came from behind the counter and gestured to the women's right. As both turned their heads, Callie shrunk down in the booth so that only a small bit of hair was peeking over the top. She then stared straight ahead, knowing that in the next five seconds, she was going to have to face the two women she knew she hurt beyond measure.

Their hurried footsteps came to a stop not far from the booth, and she heard the two women breathe out a deep sigh before they joined her in the booth.

This was the point things got confusing for the young teen.

They didn't try pulling her out of the booth to drag her back to Juvie, but the one that sat next to her wrapped her arms around the girl while the other one (who sat across from her) took her outstretched hands into her own; they didn't begin scolding her, but the one next to her whispered comforting words into her ear – "It's going to be all right, baby; you're safe now; you're not alone anymore; Mamas are here, and we're going to figure this out, I promise," – while the other one rubbed her thumb on the top of her hands, whispering how much she was missed and how worried they all had been for the last twenty-four hours.

She'd spent the last forty-five minutes telling herself that this wasn't really going to happen, so to have both of these women sitting with her was a stretch for even her own wants. She would've settled with hearing their voices and not have them show up; after all, isn't that what foster parents are supposed to do? Aren't they supposed to send the police to pick her up and bring her back before putting her in the first car from CDSS?

But they wanted to adopt her. How did that play into this?

Wanted, being the word. After this, how could they still want to adopt her? She hurt them; she let them down; she abandoned her brother; she kissed their son; she completely and totally messed this whole thing up for _everyone_.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing their whispers to end. She tried to pull her hands back from the woman across from her; she tried to sink down in the booth, attempting to get away from the woman beside her.

Both women held tighter.

"Callie," the woman beside her began. "Callie, baby, you can't do this. You need to look at us."

"Open your eyes, sweetheart," the other one said. "We're not leaving you; we're not going anywhere."

Callie sat up straighter, but still continued pulling herself away from the two.

"Why?" she asked simply, still not opening her eyes. "Why did you come for me? I…"

The woman next to her pulled her back toward her and secured her against her side while placing a kiss on the teen's temple. "You what, love?"

"I…can't…" Callie had to take a deep breath. "I can't…do _this_. I'm not…" She took another deep breath which only served to make her breathing harder as tried to continue holding back the tears.

"You're not what, Callie?" This was from the woman across from her.

The teenage girl broke, then. "I'm not _allowed!_"

Both women's eyebrows darted to the top of their foreheads as they looked at the crying teenager.

"Not allowed?" the one across from her asked quietly. "What does that mean, Callie? What aren't you allowed?"

"Any of this," the teenager sobbed. "I'm not allowed to…to…" She stopped for a moment to catch her breath as she felt the woman's arms who was sitting next to her tighten around her shoulders. "I'm not allowed to have this – not you, not Jude, not anyone!"

"Honey, what are you talking about? Of _course_ you're allowed to have us – _all _of us. Callie, look at me, babe." The woman across from the teenager waited a few moments before Callie looked up and met her eyes.

Lena's heart almost broke at how lost and broken the girl looked. She looked nothing like the girl that she'd picked up from the Juvenile Detention Center; quite the opposite, actually, and Lena had a hard time recognizing this girl in front of her. The girl she picked up was strong, despite the pleading look in her eyes at the mention of the group home; she was determined, hell-bent on getting in contact with someone she called, 'Jude.' The girl she'd picked up sat on trial two days ago, facing her rapist, in an attempt to get justice for what happened to her, bravely denying any kind of allegation that this act was 'consensual,' while having the defense attorney rip into her file – her history – clearly trying to call her a liar. The girl she'd picked up sat in their living room, seemingly happy beyond measure at the idea of being adopted along with her brother.

Now, that girl was completely shattered, and tears ran down Lena's face at the thought that she may not be able to be put back together. Stef was right; something happened. This went far beyond getting freaked out by the permanence of adoption. Something broke their little girl.

"Callie, I want you to listen to me and listen very carefully," Lena began as she switched her grip on the teenager's hands. "Stef and I love you. We want you as part of our family; we want to be your forever family. Whatever this—" She gestured around the diner without letting go of the teen's hands. "—this running away is, we will figure it out, and we'll do it as a family. You are not alone anymore, Sweetheart, so please – _please – _let us in; let us be your moms."

She wanted to nod her head; she wanted to break down in Stef's arms. She wanted so badly to open up to the two women sitting with her, but she knew exactly what would happen if they knew the truth.

Noticing Callie's apprehension, after another half-beat, Stef reached out with her free hand and grabbed a hold of Lena's closest hand to her.

"What do you say we get _this _one_ – _" She squeezed Callie's shoulders a bit, hugging her closer to her side. " – out of here and back to the hotel where we can get a few days' rest, and head back home in a couple of days?"

"That is a great idea," Lena exclaimed softly. "I think we could all use some sleep."

Stef planted a few more kisses onto Callie's temple before beginning to stand, pulling the subdued teen out of the booth with her.

The moment they were standing, Lena reached out, taking Callie into her own arms and breathing deeply of the girl's presence.

"I'm _so_ glad you're all right," she breathed into the teen's ear, squeezing her a little bit tighter.

"We both are," Stef added as she placed one hand into one of Lena's while rubbing Callie's back with the other.

Callie stood in shock for a moment before wrapping her arms around the slender woman's torso. They stood like that for a minute before they pulled apart, and Stef said, "Let's go."

~*THE FOSTERS*~

Lena could barely keep her eyes open as Stef pulled into the parking lot of the motel where they were staying. However, she wouldn't give up her current position for anything. Callie was nestled under her arm, resting her head on the matriarch's shoulders. They had agreed at the diner that Lena would sit in the back with Callie while Stef drove back to the motel – something about getting equal holding-time.

Once Stef pulled into a parking space, Lena gently shook the sleeping teenager awake while pulling her arm back around. Callie stirred and both moms helped get her inside where she climbed on the bed furthest from the door and tried to press herself into the farthest corner away from the two women. Both mothers noticed that she looked more like a caged animal that was being cornered by predators now than a tired teenager. They were getting nowhere tonight with her, and even if they wanted to, it was going to be difficult. All three of them were exhausted, and despite needing to know what was going on with their child, Lena knew trying to get information out of her when she was like this was going to be near impossible.

Now, all she had to do was convince Stef of that. True to her nature, Stef wanted to get this talk out of the way so they could all concentrate on how to move forward from this. She was never one to let things just sit and fester if she could help it, but Lena had hoped she was conveying that this was one time it would have to sit – at least until later this morning. Right now, they all needed sleep.

"Okay, Honey," Lena started as she sat on the corner of the bed furthest from the frightened girl, glancing up at her wife. Getting the nod of encouragement from Stef, she continued, thankful that her wife was relinquishing control, "Why don't you go and grab a quick shower and change? We're all going to get some sleep, and then when we wake up later, we'll talk, okay?"

Callie looked from one mother to the next, her eyes settling on Stef's, who smiled slightly as she said, "It's okay, Sweets. Your bag's under the sink." The young girl slid off the bed, and went into the bathroom. After a few moments, they heard the water begin running, and both mothers let out their breaths.

Lena stood and went into her wife's arms.

"What are we going to do, Lena?" Stef asked as she held the woman to her. "It's almost like we're right back at square one with her."

"I know, Stef," Lena answered as she held onto her wife. "But we're just going to have to rebuild that trust with her, and we will. Once she sees that we aren't going to abandon her, she'll open up again."

"But did we even have it to begin with?" Stef let the embrace go and paced toward the door. "If something about the adoption was worrying her or scaring her, I thought we'd gotten to the point where she could come to one of us. I just…"

"I know. Believe me, babe. I know."

Both women jumped slightly as they heard the bathroom door open. As they turned around, they saw the teenager barely stumbling out into the front of the hotel room. They smiled at the girl, but when they saw the expression on the girl's face, their smiles faltered. The moment their eyes all connected, Callie's face broke, and the two mothers watched the floodgates open.

The girl slid to the floor at the foot of the bed and pulled her knees up, burying her head in them. The sobs came faster, and both mothers went to her and took her into their arms. The girl didn't fight them, and neither parent could figure out if it was due to exhaustion or if it had something to do with why she ran away in the first place.

Lena figured it was probably a little bit of both, but mostly exhaustion. The last few days have been hard on her, from the trial to the idea of adoption to the wedding – it's a lot to process for an adult. She couldn't imagine what all of it looked like to the teenager.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard her wife's soothing voice, whispering something to the young girl.

"It's going to be all right, baby," she was whispering. "You're going to be all right. Lena and I are here; we're not letting you go. We're not ever letting you go…"

"You should," came Callie's sobs. "You should let me go…"

Stef tightened her grip on the girl. "No, my love, no. We shouldn't…"

Callie pulled out of the women's embrace and stood up, pacing in front of the two. "But you don't know," she said as she crossed her arms across her middle, her sobs turning to hiccups (and painful ones by the look of it). "You don't know what happened! You don't…"

Stef stood while Lena positioned herself on the edge of the bed. Stef took the girl's arms into her hands and forced the girl to look her in the eye.

"Callie, Honey," she said calmingly, "tonight, I don't _care_ what happened. Tonight, we are going to get some much needed sleep. Since you left at some point during our wedding night, I can't imagine you've slept well – if at all – since before the trial, and that was three days ago. Lena and I have been looking for you since the moment we found out you'd run way. We are going to sleep, and we'll talk about this in the morning."

"But…"

Stef silenced her with a finger to her lips. "In the morning, Love. We are all exhausted. We'll be in a better frame of mind to talk once we get some real sleep."

For a moment, the two looked each other in the eye, and when Callie spoke again, it wasn't an argument.

"I'll sleep on the couch," she offered softly, moving slowly toward the two-seater.

"No." Lena stood and redirected the teenager to the bed. "Either Stef or I will take the sofa bed. You are going to be in the bed with either Stef or me. It's your choice."

"Actually, Love," Stef started as she smirked a bit and approached the two, "it may be a good idea for you to take the bed. I may accidentally handcuff the girl to the bed if she moves."

Lena threw her a conspiring smile. "Accidentally?"

Stef only shrugged as she took the teenager from her wife and led her to the side of the bed furthest from the door and helped her lay down.

"Why don't you go get changed while I put this one to bed? I'll sit with her until you get back."

Lena smiled as she reached to the foot of the bed and picked up her pajamas before heading into the bathroom.

Stef pulled the covers up and around the girl's shoulders before sitting on the edge of the bed and brushing her bangs out of her face.

"Close your eyes, baby," she said softly. "We love you."

"But you won't," Callie said as tears welled in the teen's eyes once again. "You won't." The girl turned over, away from Stef's touch.

Stef shifted her position slightly as she turned and lay behind the teenager, taking her into her arms and holding her tight.

"Nothing," she whispered into the girl's ear, "could make us stop loving you. I really need you to hear that, baby. _Nothing_ can make us stop."

"Stef's right," Lena's voice came from the other side of the bed. "There is nothing that you can tell us that would make us stop loving you." She climbed into the bed and under the covers as Stef grabbed her own pajamas and went into the bathroom to change.

She stood in front of the mirror, looking at her reflection. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to make sense of the sudden dread that crept into her stomach. What could possibly have happened over the course of twelve hours that would make Callie believe so wholeheartedly that they would hate her and the only way out was to take off?

_Well,_ she thought to herself as she splashed a bit of water on her face, _I guess we'll find out in the morning…_

She exited the bathroom once she was changed and smiled at the sight on the bed. Callie hadn't changed positions (if anything, she may have moved further away from Lena), but Lena's hand was draped slightly over the girl's head, stroking her temple. Callie seemed more relaxed, despite being nearly on the edge.

In the morning…

* * *

Coming Up...

The Honeymoon - Part 2: What if the reason for Callie running away was more than just Jude and Brandon?


	2. Chapter 2

**The**** Idea**: A series of one-shots (ish) that fall under the premise of "What if..." I have a few ideas, but if you like this, and you'd like me to write one, leave it in a PM or review, and I'll see what I can come up with.

**CMA Legal Stuff**: I don't own The Fosters. I only have fun with their lives.

* * *

The Honeymoon – Part 2

What if the reason for Callie running away was more than just Jude and Brandon?

~*THE FOSTERS*~

"Well," the girl behind the counter stated as she looked at the open book in front of her, "we can definitely accommodate you for the next few days, but that room is booked as of Wednesday evening."

Stef smiled at the girl behind the counter.

"That's fine. Can you put us down for that, then?"

"Sure," the girl answered distractedly as she flipped through the book, seemingly looking for something. Once she found it, she paused, drumming her fingers slightly before looking back up at the blonde. "Though, would you like something a little more comfortable?"

That caught her attention. "Meaning…"

"We have a room available for five dollars per night more that has one queen and one twin." She shrugged slightly. "It's a little bit larger. You'd be able to stay the through weekend if you needed it with that one. Interested?"

Stef leveled her gaze at the young girl. "Only five dollars more per night?"

"That's it."

"Okay, let's do that, then." Truth be told, Stef didn't think she could spend another night in the tiny love-seat. "When should we be out of the current room?"

The girl smiled as an older woman came up behind her; it didn't take much to notice that the woman was the girl's mother. "Take your time. I saw you come in really early this morning with your daughter, and she looked like she could use the rest. I'll have our maid staff check on Room 219 and be sure it's ready for you. When your girl wakes up, just let us know, and we'll get you your key."

Stef nodded her thanks before venturing out of the office and back up to her wife and hopefully-soon-to-be daughter. Before she ventured inside, she sat down on the chairs outside their windows, her thoughts drifting to what Callie had said the night before – how they won't love her; not how they shouldn't; how they _won't_. There was finality to it, almost like she was leaving no room for argument.

She was afraid of the conversation they were going to have today. She hated admitting it, but she was. Callie never came across as the type of girl to admit defeat, and yet, she couldn't explain how running away wasn't admitting defeat.

Sighing slightly, she stood up and ventured into the room where she froze at the sight before her.

When she left the room earlier, Callie was still precariously perched on the edge of the double bed that she was sharing with Lena. Now, Lena was propped up slightly against the headboard, supported by her pillows, with the teen stretched out across her abdomen. The girl's sleeping form was resting against Lena's chest while Lena draped one arm on the teen's forearm and the other softly caressing the side of the girl's head, playing with the brunette curls.

Stef smiled softly at the sight when Lena looked over at her.

"When did that happen?" Stef whispered as she put her wallet and keys on the table and knelt beside the bed.

"Not long after you left, actually." Lena smiled sadly at her wife. "I was going to get up and dressed, hoping it would draw her to at least the center of the bed. I was about to sit up when she reached out and fell back to sleep here. We've been like this ever since."

Stef reached her hand up and brushed a few strands of hair out of Callie's face. While she looked peaceful, there were dried tear tracks running down the teen's face that broke Stef's heart.

She took a deep breath.

"I'm scared, Lena," Stef confided as she continued to caress Callie's head. "I know we can't avoid this talk, but…"

Lena cupped Stef's face so they were looking at each other. "I know," she said softly, "me, too."

Callie shifted slightly on Lena's shoulder before opening her eyes and looking directly at Stef.

Stef smiled, trying not to think about what they were going to have to do that day. "Good morning, Sweets," she said as she brushed Callie's fallen locks off of her face. "How'd you sleep?"

"I slept." Callie sat up and rubbed her eyes while shrugging.

"Well, that's a start," Lena said as she sat up against the headboard, "I guess."

Stef shrugged as she took a seat on the edge of the bed. Even though she was dreading what had to happen that day, they didn't exactly have to start the day off with it. It can wait a few hours until everyone was awake and ready to talk.

"So," Stef said as she turned to face both her wife and her daughter, "I spoke with the office, and we are going to move rooms. They have a room available for us through the weekend if we choose to use it that has two beds in it, so none of us has to sleep on a sofa-bed. That means, we need to get up, showered, dressed, and packed…"

"What about our talk?" Callie asked, her fear showing on her face.

"We have plenty of time for that, Love." Stef put a lock of hair behind Callie's ear. "Let's get moved into the new room, breakfast into our stomachs, and then we'll sit and talk, okay?"

Callie gave a tight-lipped smile and stood up from the bed before making her way into the bathroom. Stef watched the girl close the door before letting out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"I hate this," she commented to her wife as she heard the girl lock the door. "I hate that we have to have this conversation; I hate that something happened…"

"I know," Lena said, trying to calm her wife down a bit. "I hate it just as much as you do, but for as bad as we think it could be, her reasons for running could be as simple as seeing if we were sincere. She's been through a lot over the past six years, and much of it has been lies. She could just want to be sure we mean it when we say we want her."

While her wife sounded reassuring, Stef doubted it.

~*THE FOSTERS*~

Breakfast that morning was nearly silent, no one really knowing what to say or where to start a conversation. That is, until they got back to the hotel and moved into the larger room.

Callie sat on the bed, once again, furthest from the door while Stef and Lena sat on the double bed facing her.

"Okay," Stef started as she leaned her elbows on her knees, fully paying attention to the girl in front of her, "I'll be honest here, Callie. I'm not entirely sure what is supposed to happen from this point. Something happened between the moment you said, 'yes' to the adoption and that night when you took off." She stopped a moment to gather her thoughts. "I also don't want to rush you in talking to us."

"However," Lena took up the conversation, "we really are concerned, honey, that something happened that you felt like you couldn't come to us. Did…" She really wasn't sure if she wanted to ask this question. "Did _we_ do something?"

"No," Callie's answer was immediate, "no, God, no!"

"Then, what happened, Love?" Stef asked as she sat up so she could level her gaze on the teenager. "Help us understand what exactly this is…"

Callie fought with herself as to how much she needed to tell the two mothers. After a moment, she took a deep breath and said, "I made a…uh…I made a promise…"

Stef raised her eyebrows in confusion. "A promise to….run away?"

"To not be selfish anymore."

Lena jumped in at this point. "Honey, who said you were selfish?" Callie only looked to the floor. "Was it Mariana?"

_No,_ Stef thought as she studied the features on the girl. _She and Mariana had become close, but her saying something wouldn't have caused Callie to run. No, this was deeper._

"Jude?" Stef asked softly, silently hoping that wasn't the case. However, just by her looking up and directly into Stef's eyes confirmed everything she needed to know. "I see." She took a deep breath before she continued. "I'm not going to pretend that doesn't surprise me, Sweets. However, I think what bothers me more is that this was the course of action you decided to take; to run away rather than talk about it."

The girl stayed silent, and the two mothers were nearly at a loss.

Lena was the one who spoke next, however. "Why, Callie? Why does he think you're selfish?"

Callie looked at the two women. Could she tell? Could she tell and still have them keep Jude?

"Callie, Honey," Lena beckoned as she leaned forward slightly to place a hand on Callie's knee, "please help us understand. What happened?"

"I, uh," Callie stammered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, counting backwards from ten as she did. When she opened her eyes again, she was staring back at the calm, patient eyes of the two moms. "I kissed Brandon." She immediately closed her eyes, not wanting to see the looks on the moms' faces.

There, she said it. She said the one thing that could ruin her chance, and Jude's chance, at adoption.

Stef couldn't help the shocked look on her face any more than she could've helped her stomach from bottoming out. She couldn't believe what she was hearing! She ran through the last days, every event she could think of when the kids were together, when they were left alone, _when this could've happened_.

"See?" Callie's voice cut into her thoughts. "See, I told you!" Stef looked up and saw Callie retreating to the wall in the corner. "I told you you'd hate me!"

Lena was in the other bed within an instant.

"No, Sweetie," she whispered into the girl's ear as she pulled her close. "No, we don't hate you." She looked over to Stef.

"That's right, Love," Stef said as she also went to the other bed and ran her fingers through the teen's hair. "I don't recall saying anything about hating you, Callie. Did you, Lena?"

"Not a thing."

"I saw it," Callie said as she tried to pull her knees up to her chest. "I saw the look on your face."

"Callie," Stef said as she turned the girl's head in her wife's arms, "it took me by surprise. I do _not_ hate you. How could I?"

Fully in tears, Callie cried, "I kissed your son, and Jude saw it, and he's right! He's right! I am selfish!" She grabbed onto Stef's arms in sudden desperation. "It was a mistake! I swear, it was a mistake. I got caught up in the moment, and he was being so sweet, and I couldn't stop myself until I heard Jude, and I didn't mean to and…" She had to stop as she suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

"Callie?" Lena exclaimed as the girl doubled over, clutching at her chest.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Stef asked hurriedly as she took Callie's arms into her hands. "Honey, talk to me!"

Callie couldn't look at either woman as she tried to catch her breath. She wasn't even sure what brought this – whatever _this_ is – on. Why couldn't she breathe? What happened to the air in the room? Where'd the oxygen go? Oh, God. Is she dying? Is this what it feels like to die?

Then the relief came – a cold towel on her neck. She heard a voice coming through the fog.

"In…out…in…out…" She looked up and tried to focus on the blonde in front of her. "That's it, Love. Look at me. Breathe, Baby; that's it. Good girl." The blonde looked over to her side. "Lena, hand me the glass of water." There was some movement, and then there was a glass in Callie's hand. "Drink, honey. Just sip it."

Callie lifted the glass to her lips, taking a small sip of the ice-cold water. She felt it go all the way down her throat and into her stomach before she took a deep breath, leaning back against the body behind her. She barely felt an arm wrap their way around her collar while the other held her head against someone's cheek. She felt a few kisses being placed on her temple while the body breathed, silently encouraging her to do so as well.

When her eyes focused completely, she noticed Stef in front of her, so that meant that Lena was the one holding her.

When Callie finally caught her breath, she relaxed further into Lena's embrace.

"What was that?" she asked breathlessly as she took another sip at Stef's insistence.

"That," Stef answered as she sat cross-legged in front of Callie, "was a panic attack – one that neither of us was expecting." Stef reached out and cupped the teen's cheek when she noticed tears forming in Callie's eyes.

"That was scary," Callie said as she closed her eyes, unwillingly letting a tear fall.

"Yes, it was," Lena said as she held the child closer.

"I thought I was going to die."

"We know…"

"…and for what?" Callie could feel her heart racing again, and her breathing began to quicken once more.

Lena began running her fingers through the child's hair, playing with her curls, to try and calm her down. "Baby, it's okay. We've got you."

Stef reached over and pulled Callie's hands into her own. "We're not letting anything happen to you; please, Love, calm down."

Callie leaned further back into Lena, collapsing under all the stress she'd put on herself.

"That's not even all of it," she cried, barely keeping herself composed.

Stef sat back, completely at a loss for what to do for the girl. She looked up, looking to her wife for any kind of course of action. She got up on her knees, pulling Callie's hands into her own.

"What else was there, Love?" she asked softly, trying to get the girl to open up just a little more.

Callie, though, couldn't answer. She only looked around the room, trying to figure out how she was going to explain the next part.

"Someone else saw us," she said softly into Lena's shirt.

Stef looked up at her wife, seeing her confused expression mirrored on her wife's face.

"Who else saw you?" Lena asked as she stroked the teenager's hair in an effort to comfort her.

Callie looked Stef in the eye. "Do you have my phone?"

Stef reached into her bag and pulled out the girl's phone. She handed it to the teen, watching as she unlocked the screen, pulled something up in one of her few apps, and then handed the phone back to the blonde mother. Stef looked at the picture that was showing, and gasped slightly, not only at the picture of the two of them kissing on the side of the house, but of the comment made: _Wouldn't this be a shame if it got out? I'm sure Bill would _love_ to see it._

The cop tapped the face next to the picture, and her blood ran cold. This individual was not to have any contact with Callie whatsoever; he was not supposed to be near her – not in the same vicinity. How he had gotten this picture…

Stef shook her head. She couldn't focus on that right now. She had to focus on her daughter.

"Love," she said softly as she locked the phone once more, "is this the reason you ran?"

"Yes." Callie began crying again. She turned her entire body into Lena, who tightened her grip while looking to Stef.

Once her face was hidden, Stef showed Lena the picture, comment, and who posted it. She watched her wife's worried, but serene, face turn into that of a Mama Lion whose cub is being threatened.

She put the phone into her back pocket and closed the Mama Sandwich around the crying teen.

"It's going to be all right," she whispered into Callie's hair. "Mamas are going to take care of it. It's over, and he's not going to hurt you ever again. Understand?" Once Callie nodded, Stef sat back on her heels and called Mike from her own cell phone. She talked to him for a while, getting caught up on the kids – and the car.

_One more bill_, she couldn't help but think, but at least Mike was part mechanic. He offered to fix it, and neither mother was going to say no.

After hanging up, she turned back to her wife and soon-to-be daughter, smiling when she saw the teen brunette asleep against her wife's chest. They looked as if they had been that way all their lives.

She caught her wife's eyes, and saw the anger and fear in her eyes.

"It'll be taken care of," Stef reassured her. "He violated the restraining order; he's going to have to pay those consequences."

With that, Stef went out the door to the outer hallway and called the lawyer, who they'd worked with for the rape trial, informing him of what exactly has been happening. She wanted Callie to come home, but she wanted her to be coming home to a safe environment.

When she went back into the room, she saw Callie relaxed a bit more against her wife.

"Would you have run?" Lena asked the teenager in her arms.

"What?" Callie whispered.

"If you hadn't received that picture, would you have run?"

The girl sat for a few minutes, thinking of an answer.

"I don't know," she said softly as she curled herself into a small ball. "I really don't."

That worried Stef a little. However, they had her in their arms now. She would worry about it more after they were home with no other problems to speak of. The next problem to tackle would be Callie's probation. That would be a headache all in itself. But Stef and her wife will fight for her, no matter what that means or looks like in the weeks to come.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm so, so sorry this took so long, and that it's not as long as the last one! My muse decided to take a vacation toward the end of this chapter without consulting me. Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and favorited both me and my story! I honestly didn't think I would get that kind of response, and it was great! I hope to not take as long with the next story, but we'll see what life decides to throw at me!

Coming up next on What if...

With or Without You: What if Callie refused to see any visitors while she was in Girl's United and put up a wall from all of them? (idea submitted by FreakyGreenEyes123)


	3. Chapter 3

**CMA Legal Stuff**: I don't own The Fosters. All I own is the hot cocoa with candy-cane sitting in front of me. That's it.

* * *

Family Day: With or Without You  
Submitted by: ThatDreamerWriter

What if Callie refused to see any visitors while she was in Girls United and put up a wall from all of them?

"With or without you."

That's what he said. He sat on the same bench where she sat now, with a plate of food in his lap, looked her in the eye and said, "I'm getting adopted, with or without you."

Sure, she smiled when he said it. I mean, he was getting what every kid in foster care wanted – a forever family. Sure, she was happy for him.

Sure, she was.

But why did tears come to her eyes? Why, even though this was a good thing for her brother, did it hurt so much that he was being adopted, whether she was or not? Why did she feel like telling them all to leave and go and have a wonderful life?

Instead, she ate with them, talked with them, and joked with them. She offered them water, served them pie, and cleaned up their "fancy" china of paper plates and solo cups. Then, when the time came for them to leave, she hugged them all goodbye, noting how close both Stef and Lena held her for just a bit longer than everyone else – including Jude – almost as though they didn't ever want to let go.

They were out the door, in the car, and driving down the road when Callie turned around and sat on the bench, staring down the street where Stef's SUV disappeared around the corner.

"That visit went well," came a voice from beside her. Callie turned her head and saw that Rita had joined her on the bench. She clutched a mug of something hot – hot chocolate, by the smell of it – in her hands while she smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I guess," Callie answered noncommittally.

"You don't sound very convinced," Rita continued before taking a sip of her cocoa.

Callie only shrugged and glanced back down the street where Stef's SUV had been a few minutes ago. She swallowed the lump in her throat before turning back to Rita and smiling what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Callie stood up and began heading inside, but Rita's voice stopped her.

"Whatever you're planning on doing, Callie," she said as the teen stopped right before entering the house, "make sure you think it through completely before doing anything. One person's actions don't only affect that one person."

Callie thought for a moment before nodding and heading inside.

She'd made up her mind.

~*THE FOSTERS*~

"You're sure this is what you want to do?" It was two days later, and Callie had told Rita about her decision regarding the Fosters. "You've completely thought this through?"

Callie nodded to the older woman sitting at the table.

"And this has nothing to do with your brother getting adopted?"

Callie looked Rita in the eyes and set her face.

"It's good he's getting adopted," she commented almost monotone.

Rita's eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to read the expression on Callie's face. "But…"

"But nothing." Callie didn't even bother hiding her annoyance at this point. "He's getting adopted. That's the end."

"Not necessarily; you know that. What about you?"

"What about me? My life's been about my brother…"

"And you don't think you deserve a chance at a family?"

The teenager looked around the room, gesturing to the entire house. "I think it's pretty clear, don't you?"

Rita leaned her arms on the table. "Okay, but…"

Callie turned back to the older woman.

"You have to tell them." As Callie opened her mouth to argue, Rita continued with, "This was your decision, Callie. You have to follow it through."

After a moment, Callie nodded. "When?"

Rita shrugs. "How about later today?"

"So soon?"

"No time like the present."

"It's not a visiting day, though."

"But according to you, you don't want them to come anymore, so they need to know _not_ to come on the next Family Day, don't you agree?" When Callie stood there, she continued, "I'll see if they are available this evening after dinner."

Callie only nodded before going upstairs to mentally prepare herself for the conversation she was going to have with the two moms.

~*THE FOSTERS*~

Stef had pulled up in front of Girls United that evening and just sat in her car for a while. She couldn't bring herself to go up to the front door. She'd gotten the call from Rita that Callie needed to talk to them about something, but considering the atomic bomb that was dropped at the last family day, she was afraid of what that was.

"We should go in," Lena commented softly from the passenger seat. "She'll be waiting."

"I know," Stef answered her. "I just don't know if I'm ready to hear what she's going to say."

Lena looked over at her wife. "I'm not either, but we have to."

Bracing themselves for just about anything, the two mothers got out of the SUV and walked up to the front door. As Stef raised her hand to ring the doorbell, the door swung open, and Rita stood on the other side.

"Come in," she said as she stepped aside, allowing the two mothers to enter the foyer. "Callie's right in there." Rita gestured toward the living area where the girls usually held their group discussions. "If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen."

Lena and Stef nodded and took a collective deep breath as they went into the room to their waiting foster child.

"Hey, Sweetheart," Lena said as she took a seat on the edge of the couch.

"How are you, Love?" Stef sat beside her wife. Both women were facing Callie, waiting patiently for the girl to speak.

"I'm, uh, I'm okay," Callie started shakily. "Thanks for coming on such short notice."

"Of course." Stef's heart broke at the look on the girl's face. She looked as though she'd been stripped of anything that gave her life meaning, the look of defeat plain as day.

"So, uh. What's this all about?" Lena leaned forward so she could give the girl her full and complete attention.

Callie adopted a nervous look, and Stef was immediately on alert.

"Callie?" the blonde gently prodded.

"I..." the young teen started. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't..."

Stef shot a look over at Lena.

"You don't what, Love?" Stef asked cautiously.

Callie took in a deep breath, and in one quick sentence, she said, "I don't want you coming to see me anymore."

Of all the things she could've said, that was the one thing both mothers had prayed they wouldn't hear.

"Why?" Stef asked, barely keeping the annoyance from her voice.

Callie looked into Stef's eyes. "What?"

"Why don't you want us to come and see you?"

"Stef..." Lena tried calming her wife.

"No, Lena. I want to know. Why should we stop coming to see her? We're her family!"

"You're _Jude's_ family," Callie's voice cut into the conversation. "You're adopting Jude, and I'm grateful for that. However, I'm going into independent living, so..."

Stef bowed her head onto her fingertips, trying to control her emotions.

"Callie," Lena spoke up, "we are adopting Jude, but we want to adopt you, too. He'll never be happy without you there; you know that, right?"

Callie looked up at Lena, and the doubtful look that she received threw her for a loop.

"Yeah, okay," she said as tears started forming on the brim of her eyes. Before either mother could say anything, she looked them both dead in the eye. "Look, I don't want you to come; I don't want to see any of you. Just..." She held her breath a few seconds to get her emotions back in check.

"Any of us? Not Jude?"

"Not any of you – not Jude, not Brandon, no one." She stood up and turned toward the exit to the kitchen. She didn't want them to see the tears in her eyes. She hadn't anticipated their looks of devastation, and she couldn't handle it anymore. "Just move on with your lives without me."

As Callie began leaving the room, Stef stood up and moved to stand in her way.

"Give me a reason, Callie," she said. "I want to know why you don't want us to come and see you."

"Because I don't!"

"Love, I'm sorry, but that's not a reason."

"Well, it's all you're getting."

"Callie," Lena chimed, "please just help us understand this. We love you; Jude loves you…" At this, Callie snorted.

"Yeah, Jude loves me," she said with a sudden air of disdain. "He loves me so much he's going to be adopted with or without me."

Something occurred to Stef. "Is _that_ what this is about? That we're adopting Jude whether or not you want to be adopted?"

"Yes…no!" Her emotions finally got the best of her as she pulled her head into her arms and sat back down on the chair, sobs beginning to take over. "I don't know!"

Stef shared a look with Lena before taking a seat on the small coffee table in front of the girl. She moved over slightly when Lena joined her, kneeling in front of the girl.

"Sweetheart," Lena began softly, but was cut off by Callie's broken voice.

"Just once…"

Stef heard it, too, and knelt beside Lena, placing one mom on either side of the girl.

"Just once what?" Stef asked as she took Callie's arms into her hands and pulled them away from her head. When Callie looked into Stef's eyes, she repeated the question, "Just once what, Love?"

"Just once, it would be nice to come first!" She took a deep breath as the two moms watched her hurt come to the surface.

"What do you mean, Callie?"

"Nothing…"

"Oh-ho, no. You're not getting out of this conversation that easily. What do you mean, and I want the truth."

When Callie looked away from the two moms, Lena reached out and took one of Callie's hands and held it in both of hers. "Honey, please talk to us. What does that mean? Help us understand this."

Callie pulled back her hand and stared her in the eye. "What's to understand, Lena? I took care of him for the last six years; I basically was his _mother_ for the last six years. He gets two moms, and suddenly I don't matter anymore!"

"Whoa, hold on a minute, Callie…" Stef tried interrupting, moving to place a hand on Callie's knee.

Callie flinched back. "No! You wanted me to explain, I'm explaining."

Stef nodded and sat back. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"He didn't ask me if it would be okay; he didn't even ask if I still wanted to be adopted. It was just, 'They're going to adopt me, with or without you.' So, he gets the family we've always wanted, and I get a group home! Well, then, fine. He can have his family, and his sister can just disappear!"

Lena looked over at Stef, who met her wife's gaze before turning back to the teen with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Baby," the brunette sighed as she took the girl into her arms. "Is that really what you think happened?"

"Isn't it?"

"Well," Stef chimed in softly, "maybe on the surface, but there is more to that than you think."

"Exactly." Lena pulled away from the girl and knelt once more at her knees. "When we asked Jude if he still wanted to be adopted, do you know what his first question was?" Callie shook her head.

"He asked about you," Stef answered. "He asked about us adopting you, too. He was double checking to make sure we still wanted you, and we do! However, we want to adopt you because you want us to be _your_ moms, not because you want us to be _his_."

"And plus," Lena continued, "we wanted you to take this time while you're here to concentrate on you. Honey, you've spent the last six years being something to him that you really shouldn't have had to be, and because of that, you've missed out on just being Callie. You were mother, protector, babysitter, feeder, doctor, nurse, best friend, and a host of other things, but in those six years, you needed to grow into Callie."

"We can't go back in time, Callie, but God, we wish we could. What we can do is give you a chance to discover who Callie is now, without Jude, or Brandon, or the other pressures that you constantly put yourself under, which is why you're here. You need to figure out who Callie is, and we would _really_ love to get to know that wonderfully talented girl." Stef smiled at the girl.

"We don't want this to be permanent. We want you to come back to us, but we want you to _want_ to come back to us, too, and that decision needs to be made for only Callie, not for anyone else, including Jude."

Callie looked at both women, squeezing their hands back.

"I'm so-rry," she hiccupped. "It's just when you said you couldn't take me back in, and then Jude saying he was being adopted with or without me, I thought…" Another torrent of sobs broke out from the girl.

At this, both mothers took the girl into their arms and held her close.

"Shhh, shh," Lena cooed as she placed a kiss into Callie's hair. "You are just as important as your brother, Callie. You matter to us."

"So, so much," Stef continued as she, too, placed kisses into Callie's hair. "I'm so sorry, Baby, that you thought otherwise."

"We love you, Callie." Lena pulled back and brushed some hair out of the girl's face. "We _want_ you, but more importantly, we want you to be happy, and only _you_ can decide what makes you happy. But you have to make that decision for you, and only you. If that's with us, then we couldn't be happier. If it's not, and independent living is truly going to make you happy, then we'll be happy for you, but Jude will be adopted and taken care of."

Stef also pulled back and looked at the girl. "No matter what you choose, you will always have a place in our hearts and in our family."

Callie looked both women in the eye as Rita came into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt," Rita said softly, "but it's nearly time for lights out, and Callie still has some homework she needs to finish."

Stef and Lena smiled at the girl as they stood, pulling her up and into their arms again.

"See you next family day?" Stef asked as Lena placed a kiss on the girl's forehead.

Callie smiled and nodded a teary smile. "See you next family day."

* * *

Coming up Next:

What if Callie had been stopped from running away in the first place?

(Suggestions on who finds her?)


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**: So, this is written a little differently than I usually write.

**CMA Legal Stuff**: I don't own The Fosters. It's just a lot of fun playing with their lives.

I Do: What if Callie had been stopped from running away in the first place?

* * *

She picked up the blue duffel bag.

She went from one bedroom door to the other, silently bidding everyone goodbye, only touching Stef and Lena's door (She wasn't about to walk in on their first night as a married couple).

She went down the stairs.

She looked over at the living room – the room where she'd started in this house; her first bed here.

She swallowed a lump in her throat.

A part of her couldn't believe she was doing this; that same part of her was urging her to go back to her first bed and go to sleep.

She walked over to the door and stopped, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath.

She put her hand on the door knob.

"Where are you going?"

She froze.

"Where are you going?"

Good question. Where was she going?

"I can't stay here."

"Why not? You're being adopted."

She reached for the doorknob.

"You're going to just leave?"

She held her breath a moment.

"I have to."

She turned the knob, but it didn't give.

She stopped and stared at the door.

Tears pricked her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not good enough!"

"Callie? Jude? What's…"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was trying to avoid this.

"Callie?"

She felt a hand on her back before it traveled over her back and wrapped around her shoulders.

A soft voice spoke.

"Stef, why don't you take Jude back upstairs?"

"I can't believe you!"

"Jude, come on, Love." She heard some motion behind her. "Let Lena talk to Callie."

Why Lena? Why not Stef? Stef, she knew how to talk to; Lena, she didn't.

She felt herself being pulled (led?) gently over to the living room.

They sat down on the couch, neither knowing exactly where to begin. Callie kept her eyes trained on the floor, feeling Lena's gaze boring into her.

"So, um," Lena started, "what's going on, Callie?"

Callie only offered a shrug. How exactly was she supposed to answer?

"A shrug isn't an answer," Lena said patiently. "Talk to me. Why are you leaving?"

Callie didn't answer.

Lena reached out for her hand.

Callie pulled away.

"Callie, please talk to me." Lena took a breath – almost a sigh. "Help me understand..."

"You can't."

"Why can't I?"

"You just can't." Callie's voice was clipped as she moved toward of the edge of the sofa. "I have to go."

"Go where?"

"Somewhere else."

"Why?"

"I just do." Damn, her eyes started watering.

Lena saw it.

"Why?"

"I..." Her voice caught.

"You what?"

"I can't..."

"Can't what?"

"Stay here."

"Why not?"

"I don't deserve it."

"Don't deserve…?" Lena sounded confused before she let out a knowing breath. "I see. You think you don't deserve to be a part of his family. Is that what you mean?"

She nodded.

"Can you explain to me why?"

She shook her head.

"Do you think that Stef and I deserve the family we've always wanted?"

She snapped her head to Lean, looking her in the eye. "Of course you do! You're wonderful people. I'm…"

"But what if that family that we want so much includes you? You are a part of the family that we want."

"You don't need someone like me."

"You just said that we deserve the family we want." Lena's hands engulfed the young girl's. "You are a part of that family, Callie. Stef and I want you as part of our family, and we think that with everything you've been through, you definitely deserve to have a home."

Callie still looked unsure.

"At least sleep on it for tonight? We can talk about it more in the morning."

* * *

**Author's Note 2**: Yeah, I'm not too sure about this particular style of writing. Very minimal. Maybe not my style. Anyway, let me know what you think – including if this should be rewritten, which is an idea I am actually toying with (make it more how I normally write), but if you guys like it, I may keep it.

Coming up next: What if Callie had found Kiara's note instead of Stef?


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